“You see persons and things not as they are
but as you are. ” Anthony de Mello

Monday, March 30, 2009

working on a dream...Childhood Interupted

Personal dreams capture our imaginations with vivid inspiration. Some cling onto our hopeful hearts making us hold our breath while we diligently work inside its wake. Others simmer on the back burner waiting for the right time to be served. Then there are the dreams which are right there, front and centre ready to be captured and fulfilled. Sometimes, we need the assistance of others to make it happen......OFTEN they are the most important dreams of all! Today, I want to share someones' dream with you because you can help make it happen......

Photographer, Jason Florio , a good friend of fellow blogger Helen at Wordly Imagesis attempting to win a photography contest in order to fulfill his own dream assignment and he needs your vote in order to do so. His own words..........and his accompanying photo.

"Three years ago I was photographing in Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia and I met a young boy called Bruke who had runaway from a small village because of an alcoholic and physically abusive father and a step mother that did not want him. Bruke, when I found him was living with his friend Oromo in a small concrete hole that was 3 x 4 x 5 ft in size that was in the median of a very busy road. He was surviving, like so many of the street children there off left over plate scraps from restaurants. Through an outreach center that tries to help the estimated 100,000 plus street children that live in the Mercato market area of Addis I was also able to talk to many other children like Bruke who had escaped not just abusive families but were victims of child trafficking and prostitution.

My dream assignment would be to return to Addis and make a detailed photo essay with audio interviews with the children that would bring to light the horrors of child trafficking and the extreme dangers that these young children face everyday on the streets. The ultimate dream would be to use part of the money to find Bruke and help him establish a life off the streets. If I cannot find him then I will donate part of the money to the Forum on Street Children, an NGO that helps rescue children from the hardships life on the streets of the Mercato area.Please take a minute to vote for this and help me create awareness about these young children.Deadline for voting is April 3rd. Thank you for taking the time."

Jason Florio needs your vote.......He needs the financial backing to successfully fulfill this dream assignment. HOW cool would it be if we all supported him to make it happen??? More importantly, think of how this one assignment may positively impact Bruke and other street children of Addis Ababa?

Here is the link to the Name Your Dream contest. It will only take a couple of minutes of your time to register and vote for this very talented individual. As Margaret Mead once said......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. One person at a time....one dream at a time. It matters. A Lot.